TOKYO, Sept 21, 2011 (From AFP) - A powerful typhoon smashed into Japan on Wednesday and headed for the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, where workers raced to protect buildings and reactors that are leaking radiation. The storm, which was packing winds of up to 198 kilometres (123 miles) per hour, has killed at least five people and a million were initially warned to leave their homes over fears torrential rains could cause widespread flooding. At around 7:00pm (1000 GMT) Typhoon Roke was centred 63 kilometres northwest of Tokyo, heading northeast -- towards the area that was devastated by a record earthquake and tsunami on March 11 that sparked nuclear meltdowns at Fukushima. Hundreds of flights were cancelled, ferry and rail services were suspended and roads closed as the country prepared for the full impact of the storm. Roke comes less than a month after another vicious typhoon barrelled through Japan, killing around 100 people in one of the deadliest storms the country has seen in decades and heaping more misery on the disaster-weary nation.

Prefectures across eastern Japan issued landslide warnings, telling people to stay away from areas at risk. A tornado warning was temporarily raised across the Tokyo area, but expired a few hours after it was issued. Many of the initial evacuation advisories were dropped by Wednesday lunchtime, but remained in force for around 330,000 people nationwide.A number of expressways have been closed, and ferry services that ply routes between the many islands that make up Japan had been stopped.Around 450 flights were cancelled, grounding more than 45,000 passengers, Jiji Press reported.East Japan Railway was suspending a number of services, including some bullet trains, but did not know how many passengers would be affected, a spokesman said. Central Japan Railway said it had halted all bullet train services connecting Tokyo and Osaka, with no immediate prospect of them restarting.

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